Process for treating carbonaceous materials



June l5 1926.

W. E. TRENT PRocEss FOR TREATING cARBoNAcEoUs MATERIALS Filed Sept. 27', 1924 .mmwbwbmmm wmm@ @Wem a m Patented `June 1 5, 192s. .i

l UNITED STATES wnn'rnnnnwru annum, `or wnsnruerou, nrsrnrcr or oonir'iunu.

rincones non 'rnnn'rrm'al oAnnoNAcnoUs MATERIALS.

Applicatiesmedsepreniber27,1924. sensi ivo.- noasi.

The invention relates 'to improvements: in a process for :treat-ing ymixturesof coal and oil, yor quantities of coal alone,for the `re- 'moval of the oils which are recovered and then used to liquefyL coal-particles or for the. purpose of effecting a separation of non,-

' carbonaceous matter from the carbonaceous content of coal in themanner as described in my Patent No. 1,LZ0,164.` l t The present application isa continuation 4vin part of my co-pending application,'- Serial No. 325,6325 filed Se amber 23,1919;

,In accordance wit this invention oils and lthe like removed from comminuted coalmay be. used for dierent' purposes, 'but Il-'have foundt-hat yif the coilsrecovered in .thedis# tillation of the coal -are mixed with' the car-- bonized residue, a fuel consisting of carbon-4 ized particles placed in al owin condition vby the recovered oils-is vhighl e cient and capable of broad use "and app icat-ion owing to the fact that the carbonized lparticles are largely freed from'their' ash foi-minar con# y tent. Experiments have demonstrat'd that by first removing the oil roductsfrom the' coal and in .then thoroughi;T `intermixing the recovered oils with the carbonaceous' content of the coal a highly desirable lflowing fuel may bev roduced.

It wil be understoodthat in carrying out thisy invention I first preferably reduce "coal to a veryv fine degree and while wet I mix I. fthis coal with oil to'cause the `oil to combine with the carbon content o f the coal-:forming a plastic amalgam excluding ashf forming substances therefrom. It isf this amalgam that `I preferably's'ubject to distillationl to remove the oils. 'f'

The invention also contemplates the provision of a process wherein-the oils extracted from a fuel amalgam by. di`stillation 'may be f again used for thc purposedfpilrifying `ad ditional uantities of 00.1, after Awhich said ,coal is su jected to distillation au-d theoils recovered. In otherwvords. the `-invention aims to provide aprocess wherein the purification Vof coal may be carried on largely throughoils removed flrom the purified coal. In carrying out my invention preferably use an apparatus as disclosed in the `accompanying drawings, in which the ligure represents a transverse 'sectional view of the device. L

Referring more particularly to 'the draufings wherein like reference characters indicat e corresponding parts; 'the numeral. 1 designates a bln or'recelver ,which 1s adapted to contain pulverlzed coal, orma -mixtureof coal and oil. If the mixturegconsists ocoal laiidoilofea. substantially plastic nature` it is in `accordance f yipreferably 1 manufactured l .'withfrny Patent'No. 1,420,164. As disclosed in this patent Ijpurify` the coal by first reducing the coal to a iineness of .say 200 meshes per inch, and-while wet-:I add to the coall a quantity of' hydrocarbon oil repre-V Santing-fromy 15 yto30 perl centofl the' coal used byv weight. v I thoroughly agitatethese substances and have discovered that .the oil and the carbon content of. the y coal combine, forming a plastic mass, excluding llonrai-J bonaceous matter and Water. Either'. this material or finely comminuted coa-l free ot" i. oil may be `introduced t"othe. bin 1l The material thus introduced is fed b v the con-f veyor 2 through a feedl pipe which is in comimmication `with a gas, liquid, steam` oil or water ipe Lthaving va pulnp 5 therein disposed wit in its line and communicating withfany: suitable source of supply. The finely-divided coal or `the coal and oil mixture is fed from the conveyor2 and carried in suspension in the rapidly moving `gas or y fluid current through 'the coil 6 dispcsed within a combustion chamber v7 which ,is

.heated by heating' gases from the burner .8

tothe desired temperature. It will be seeny that the vheat is applied to the material mixed 'with the coal as well as the volatiles ,y contained in the coil-6. The temperatures employed may vary, but I preferably only use a temperature suflicientlyhigh to `remove the oilsin the materials undergoing treat-- ment. From the conducting pipe 6 the material leads to an outlet pipe 7 {vomi-where the asesand va rs ass off to a condenser 10, t ie condensa le oils being collected in a receiver 11 while the 'incondensable gases go off through a pipe 12 to a suitable point of collection. From the pipe 7 the carbonized residue is deposited mto an. enlarged.- receiver 13 where this residue is collected. 4 f

'If the Imaterial undergoing treatment is auagglomerated mass of coal and oil the ca rbonized residue collected in the receiver 713 will be largely free of ash. The low temperatures used in the retort prevent amaterial aggloineration of. e fine coal particles so they are collected as carbonized particles. These carboiiized particles maybe mixed with the oil 'collected in the receiver 11 so as to Jforni ahfiowing mixture, which I have found highly useful for manypurposes. That is to say, the oil removed from the coal is used with lthe carbonized particles to produce a fioiving substance and if suiicient oil is not removed fronitlie coal for this Vpur-y pose additional oil from an extraneous source can be used. f

Another important feature of this invention resides inthe fact tliatfwhen an agglomeratecl mass of coal and oil is being treated the oil is recovered by distillation and the contained oil of the coal is likewise removed.

`of say 600 F., which is This oil is collected in the receiver 11, and as before stated the oilthus collected can be again returned to the agitating vessel and then used as a treating agent for the purpose of treating additional quantities of raw coal. This operation is highly desirable in localities where' hydrocarbon oil is not obtainabie and itis 4beneficial to utilize largely the contained oil of a charge of coal forthe purification and treatment of a fresh supply of unclean coal.. In this event the carbonized articles are collected and used as a fuel cit er in their ordinary forni or as briquettes' or otherwise. In distilliiig the materials I preferably employ a temperature sufliciently highg to remove the lighter o il fractions without coking the` carbonized particles. Iiistcadot' forcing the inixturetl-irough the pipeG in i the retort under pressureor while in a ntoving'currentof inert gas, Water, steam, oil, or the like, I can, it desirable, directly carry this material through a retort on an endless conveyor, where the saine is discharged at one `end of the conveyor into a' suitable hoper while the va )ors )ass o` to a condenser i J and are collected. It will furthermore be understood that many other types of' apparatus can be used for carryingr out this process and that the apparatus disclosed hasl nic-rely been shown for the -purpose of illus'- trating one type otvapparatus that I have successfully used.` y

igbeepea to place the same in a wet condition'.

.2. The method of producing a liquefied carbonaceous fuel, which' comprises subjecting coal in a finely `pulverized state to the action of heat to distill oils therefrom without fusing the carbonaceous particles together, and in mixing the oils so produced with the carbonaceous fuel particles.

3. A method of producing a wet carbona-A ceous fuel, which consists in sub'ecting finely pulverized coal to the action o heat to distill the oils from the coal, 'and in then mixing the oil so produced with the carbona- 'ceous particles, and in agitating the saine to form an ainalgamated substance of oil and carbon particles. j

4. The method of producing a composite carhonaceous fuel, consisting-in distilling,r finely pulverized coal to remove oils therefrom, and in then agitatingif the'oils' soproduced with the carbon-fuel to forni' an iiggloinerated mass of the comminuted lcarboiiaceous material and the oil.

' method of treating carbonaceous fuels, consistingl in purifying coal by miiing` the. same iii a finely divided condition while wet with a hydrocarbon agent, in agit-ating the same to caustthe carbon content ot' the coal and the oil to combine forniingr a plastic agglomerato, iii passing;r said 6. A method ot treating,r carbonaceous fuels'consistmg in mixing coiimiinuted coal and oil, in passingr said linx-ture to a heating zone to recover the oils by distillation,

in inixiiigjr the recovered oils with contnpinut, ed coal particles.

1n testimony whereof l anix my signature.

WALTER EDWIN TRENT. 

